Related papers: The Big Constant Out, The Small Constant In
Possibility of gravitational repulsion in General Relativity is discussed and astronomical data in favor of cosmological acceleration are described. The problem of vacuum energy is emphasized and possible ways of its solution are indicated.…
We present a novel mechanism for generating a Cosmological Constant and suitably sequestering the vacuum contribution to it, so that the eponymous Cosmological Constant problem is avoided. We do so by resorting to a model endowed with a…
We demonstrate that there exists a large class of action functionals of the scalar curvature and of the Gauss-Bonnet invariant which are able to relax dynamically a large cosmological constant (CC), whatever it be its starting value in the…
We review a solution of the cosmological constant problem in a brane-world model with infinite-volume extra dimensions. The solution is based on a nonlinear generally covariant theory of a metastable graviton that leads to a large-distance…
This thesis focuses on late-time cosmic acceleration within modified theories of gravity, using various observational data sets and statistical analysis. The Universe is assumed to be spatially homogeneous and isotropic and is described by…
Introducing a fundamental constant of nature with dimensions of acceleration into the theory of gravity makes it possible to extend gravity in a very consistent manner. At the non-relativistic level a MOND-like theory with a modification in…
The existence of current-time universe's acceleration is usually modeled by means of two main strategies. The first makes use of a dark energy barotropic fluid entering \emph{by hand} the energy-momentum tensor of Einstein's theory. The…
Recently we suggested a reformulation of General Relativity which completely sequesters from gravity {\it all} of the vacuum energy from a protected matter sector, assumed to contain the Standard Model. Here we elaborate further on the…
Whenever the condition of anomaly freedom is imposed within the framework of effective approaches to loop quantum cosmology, one seems to conclude that a deformation of general covariance is required. Here, starting from a general…
We investigate the cosmological behavior in a universe governed by time asymmetric extensions of general relativity, which is a novel modified gravity based on the addition of new, time-asymmetric, terms on the Hamiltonian framework, in a…
In spontaneously broken supergravity with non-flat potential the vanishing of the cosmological constant is usually associated with a non-trivial balancing of two opposite-sign contributions. We make the simple observation that, in an…
Massive gravity is a modified theory of general relativity. In this paper, we study, using a method in which the scale factor changes as a particle in a "potential", all possible cosmic evolutions in a ghost-free massive gravity. We find…
Employing the non-additive Tsallis entropy, $S\sim A^{\beta}$, for the large-scale gravitational systems, we disclose that in the cosmological scales both Friedmann equation and the equation of motion for the Newtonian cosmology get…
It is shown that Einstein gravity in four dimensions with small cosmological constant and small extra dimensions can be obtained by spontaneous compactification of Lovelock gravity in vacuum. Assuming that the extra dimensions are compact…
We present a new mechanism for addressing the cosmological constant problem based on global constraints arising from a lapse function in a higher-dimensional gravitational theory. Inspired by Horava-Lifshitz gravity, we consider a 5d…
A mechanism to control the cosmological constant through a scalar field non-minimally coupled to gravity is proposed. By utilizing non-minimal phantom or quintessence, the cosmological constant, which may be large originally, can be…
We suggest a model of induced gravity in which the fundamental object is a relativistic {\it membrane} minimally coupled to a background metric and to an external three index gauge potential. We compute the low energy limit of the two-loop…
In this paper we investigate dynamics of the modified loop quantum cosmology models using dynamical systems methods. Modifications considered come from the choice of the different field strength operator $\hat{F}$ and result in different…
We give a derivation of general relativity and the gauge principle that is novel in presupposing neither spacetime nor the relativity principle. We consider a class of actions defined on superspace with two key properties. The first is…
We study the behavior of a general gravitational action, including quadratic terms in the curvature, supplemented by a compact scalar field in 4+1 dimensions. The generalized Einstein equation for this system admits solutions which are…